Jam boy

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A jam boy was an individual utilised by golfers as a decoy to draw insects away from the players. Also known as "Jam Heads".

In the early 1920s in this country, rich guys would hire two caddies -- one to carry the bag and one to cover himself in jelly in order to attract flies away from the golfers? They were known as "jam boys."^[1]

—Rick Reilly, Who's Your Caddy?

The term and practice were apparently^{[citation needed]} revived in South Africa in the 1980s during the apartheid regime of the Afrikaners.^{[dubious – discuss]}

This individual might wear an industrial boiler suit covered in a sugary syrup intended to attract flies. The purpose of this was that the jamboy or jammee would stand 20-30 metres away from the player and attract flies and other pestilence to his person while his patron would be undisturbed during his round of golf. A jam boy was predominately paid less than a caddy^{[citation needed]}.

This practice was abolished with the overthrow of the National Party by the ANC. Nelson Mandela stated that there would be 'no more jamboys in my country'^{[citation needed]}. The term is still used in South Africa as a derogatory term for labourers^{[citation needed]}.

The term jam boy may have originated from the English colonial image of a Gollywog used by Robertson's Jam throughout most of the 20th Century. Robertson's decided to cease portraying this image in the 1990s when it was criticised as racist^{[citation needed]}.

The concept of Jam Boys was allegedly used by the soccer team The Hearts of Midlothian, who play their games in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland. Local historians state that during the recession of the 1920's, The Hearts of Midlothian team manager made his substitute players smear themselves jam. The belief was that this would reduce the likelihood of the local Midge ravishing his players. Conversely, this resulted in the opposition team players being savaged by the local Midge, although the Hibernians of east Edinburgh still triumphed more often than not over their "corrupt" rivals. The Hearts of Midlothian are still known to this day as "The Jambos", which was local 1920's Edinburgh dialect for "Jam Boys".

Bobby Dryden said that he wanted to be a Jam Boy after he's finished his role as Lucky Pierre in the West End box office smash "Bug Chasers and Gift Givers"^{[citation needed]}.

There has been some recent speculation that, due to the potential difficulties caused by insects coming in from the Isle of Arran, the 2008 Beve Trophy will see jamboys recruited from the local town of Troon. Beve Trophy originator James Tonner has recently placed an advert seeking to recruit suitable candidates and it is expected that interviews will take place early in June 2008. Former South Africa manager Stuart Baxter is the current favourite to land one of these positions.